So what I really wanted to post today was this amazing step-by-step picture tutorial of how to make a scarf out of an old t-shirt. I mean: it would really just be picture of me cutting something up and then sewing straight lines, but I still thought it might be worth it for somebody that couldn't see the steps in their head.
But then I read this about using only natural light in your photos on your blog (which explains why my children and my made-goods always look so WASHED OUT) and so now I've been waiting to actually get up to my sewing room during hours with natural light. I tend to be sort of a night hog. (That's the offspring of a night owl and a ground hog). So, no pictures.
But I've had a couple of things on my mind: the first is that I talked with a mom's group this week about the worth of maintaining your Creative Life while you're up to your neck in your Mom Life. They all nodded, but I could tell they thought I was batty. They all had that You have no idea look in their eye. And then I asked them to share about the state of their creative lives. And this one woman said I have so many unfinished projects. But she said it like she was saying I have so many moles on my A or I have so many unplucked whiskers on my chin. You know--with some sort of Lady Shame.
And it led into this discussion (well, that's not true because it was just me jumping up and down and talking excitedly) about how a creative life worth having isn't measured by final products. The goal of a life Making isn't supposed to be about what we make--it's supposed to be about making something. And that the life spent Making is a good life--it's a life where we learn about how screwing things up is inevitable. And that seeing pieces and turning them into whole things is incredibly gratifying. And that any life that includes doing something that we lose time to is a good life. Our souls sort of slow down when we do something that is engaging enough that we stop hovering above ourselves and analyzing our worth (or the size of our butt) while we're doing it and just be able to Do It.
Some of them got what I was talking about. Others of them looked at me like they thought I was a really friendly nut job.
So that's what's on my mind today since I can't take pictures of my handy dandy turn-a-t-shirt-into-a-scarf project.
Oh--and I also love Adult Ed. It's this wonderful Monday night already negotiated for that means I will be sewing at least once a week. I can't say enough about it. You probably already know Adult Ed is amazing and you're bored reading this. But what if you DIDN'T? Oh my gosh, how sad. What if you thought that Adult Ed was just for people trying to finish high school. It's not. It's full of classes where you make things. And that's a big deal for living a life worth living in my book.
It's an appointment with your creative destiny for the gods sakes. Book it.
